Chapter Sixteen
I shouldn’t have been so surprised by how much Ollie knows about what kids need. He was that boy. The one so lost and on his own, the one who thought there was no way out except to take the pain away forever. Banner is incredible, completely on board from the start, and promises that in a couple of days, he’ll have a list of counsellors willing to help. And they are nationwide, not confined to London.
By the time we leave, Ollie’s buzzing and seems to be floating. We hold hands as we walk back to the Tube. “We need to go back to mine to get some clothes for tomorrow. Then we can grab something to eat. What do you fancy?”
“You.”
I pull him into my arms. “But until I can eat you out, maybe Italian.”
Ollie turns bright red and splutters. “You can’t say stuff like that in the middle of the pavement.”
“Why not? It’s true.”
I kiss him and slide my hands up his chest and over his shoulders to push up into his hair. As I dig my nails into his scalp, he moans and strokes his tongue over mine. He grips my hips, holding me close.
He breaks away and pulls in a long breath. “Fuck clothes and food. Take me to your place right now.”
We manage to keep our hands to ourselves all the way home, but that doesn’t stop me from whispering everything I’m going to do to him once we’re home. As soon as I slam the front door, it’s full steam ahead.
“Get fucking naked now,”
Ollie growls at me and tugs at his clothes. His expensive pea coat drops to the floor like it’s a rag. He pushes me against the wall and attacks my mouth as he mauls the buttons on my shirt until frustration takes over and he rips the shirt open. I’m about to complain when I remember it’s his shirt.
It’s not until his mouth travels down to my chest that someone lets out a distinct cough. A clearing of a throat I’ve heard countless times in my life. “Stop,”
I whisper. “Ollie, you need to stop.”
He freezes. “What’s wrong? Have I done something?”
“No, baby, it’s not you.”
I try not to look to the side because I know what, or rather who I’m going to find there.
“You’re kidding me? You’re ending this! What the fuck, Kit?”
Crap, he thinks I’m giving him the “it’s not you, it’s me” bullshit.
“No, baby. It’s not that. It’s my mother.”
I subtly nod to the left.
Ollie frowns, and his eyes go wide. “Shit!”
“Have you two stopped acting like animals and realised I’m here?”
Her droll, upper-crust accent cuts through me, and I close my eyes.
I open them slowly and turn to her. “What are you doing here, Mother? How did you get in?”
“That silly boy Adam let me in. He said he had an appointment to get to and rushed out. I’m not sure he’s all there, you know.”
Her gaze moves to Ollie, and he flinches. He hates authoritative voices. “Who are you? Kit, come here and introduce us.”
“I’m so sorry, baby,”
I whisper. “Mother, this is my boyfriend, Ollie. Ollie, this is my mother, Lady Daphne Wells.”
“What’s your surname, Oliver? You look familiar.”
“It’s Ollie, Mum, and I doubt it.”
But Ollie has gone pale.
“It’s nice to meet you, Lady Wells, and it’s Stansbury.”
She frowns. “No, that’s not it. It’ll come to me.”
Perhaps she has gone bat-crap crazy. She’s far too mean to do us all that favour. Which means she’s up to something.
“Again, Mother, why are you here?”
If she comes to the point, I can get her to leave, and I can get back to taking Ollie apart.
“Yes, of course. I was in town for a meeting, so it was easier to come and see you than call. Clarissa Thockmorton is having her winter ball on New Year’s Eve, of all dates. I told her you had a boyfriend and would be bringing him. So you both have to last until then.”
“I’m not going, Mother. I told you that after last year’s.”
“Rubbish, that was just high spirits. He never meant it.”
“No.”
“Yes, I’ve already accepted for you.”
There’s no way of dealing with her, so I nod. I won’t be going, and I’m sure as hell not going to take Ollie to that viper’s nest.
“Blinkhorn!”
She bursts out. “You are the image of your father, well, what he was like when he was young. I’m right, aren’t I?”
“No, I’m sorry, but you’re mistaken,”
Ollie says firmly.
“Hmm.”
She taps her finger against her mouth, then does something that almost knocks me on my arse. “Good for you, Ollie. I would’ve denied him too. The man is vile. I’ve never liked him. A bully and a thug.”
She pats Ollie’s cheek tenderly. “Don’t let this one go,”
she says to me. After air-kissing my cheek, she swans out, leaving us open-mouthed.
“Are you okay?”
I pull Ollie to the sofa and sit down. “How would she know your father? No, don’t answer that. Because she knows everyone.”
“She’s right, though. I do look like him. And she’s also right that he’s a thug and a bully. And he detests me, but you knew that already. Can we change the subject, please?”
I throw my leg over his and straddle him. “How about we get back to where we were?”
I kiss him and unbutton his shirt. I get halfway down when the front door bangs open.
“Put him down, Kit. I don’t want to see any bare arses,”
Adam shouts.
“You’d better hide, you fucker. You let my mother in.”
“There was no way I was saying no to her. She’d probably turned me into a toad. And you hate toads. They freak you out, so I would’ve ended up being flushed down the toilet. That’s no way to die.”
Ollie is biting his lip, holding back his laugh. “We have our clothes on. You can come in,”
I call out. “We can go to my room.”
I climb off Ollie’s lap. “Come on.”
Finally, we’re behind my locked bedroom door and naked. Ollie is on his knees, his head in my pillow as I take my time breaking him into pieces.
“God, you taste good.”
I groan. He sways his hips, moaning. I’ve been torturing him for so long now the sheet beneath us is soaked with his pre-cum. I want to make him come on my tongue, but not today. My dick is as hard as Ollie’s. “Ready for my cock, baby?”
He looks over his shoulder, his eyes glazed and black at night. “If you don’t fuck me right now, we’re over.”
“We’re never going to be over, baby. But your wish is my command.”
He’s loose enough, and after rolling the condom down my length and lubing up, I press inside him. I can’t believe it’s only been a few days since we made it real. I already know his body so well, and as I’m buried deep, I can tell how close he is. But I am right there with him.
When we lie together, Ollie is quiet, so quiet. Worry lines form deep creases across his forehead. Is something wrong? Has my mother knowing his father upset him? Brought back memories he had planned on never revisiting? Caused him to rethink us, in case it brought him back in the crosshairs of his father. Hell, it could be any reason.
“Are you going to tell me what’s going on? Because my mind is running through every reason you could have to break up with me.”
I lie on my back, too scared to look at him, but the pillow shifts, and he faces me.
“I’m in love with you.”
Smiling, I turn onto my side. “You are?”
“I am.”
“Good. I love you too.”